Chapter 83—How About a Peek? |
When the party exited the dungeon, the entire Ascender’s Tower creaked, while people standing around on the first floor collapsed under the pressure of the groups’ power. Like they’d been struck by Hiral’s Intimidating Aura, bodies were pressed to the ground, groans of pain and surprise escaping lips before the party realized what was going on, and reeled in their solar energy.
As soon as they did, the sounds like the tower was going to collapse on their heads went silent, and a dozen gasps for air came in chorus.
“Huh,” Yanily said, while Laseen floated over to make sure nobody had been injured too badly from slamming into the floor. She almost looked disappointed she wouldn’t have to reattach anything.
“Guess we should warn the other groups about that before they come back out,” Seena said.
“Don’t want to bring the tower down,” Romin said. “Even with the Cradle, these dungeons will be important.”
Seeyela sighed and crossed her arms. “I so wanted to see Wule’s face when he felt us at S-Rank.”
“You’re going to do Edicts for them too?” Seena asked Hiral quietly, the others going to intercept the suddenly very excited Bonders as they realized the group was S-Rank now.
“Just Nivian and Wule, probably,” Hiral said. “Rest will get runes. Like I said, I can only do one person per Edict. They’ll get more benefit from a rune that matches them, than an Edict that doesn’t.”
“You’ve been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you?”
“How did you even come up with it?”
“I got the idea when I first saw my PIM universe starting to look like my Rune of Eclipse. That won’t happen to you guys—I don’t think—but it’s where the idea started.”
“Do our PIMs look more like what the Fallen had?” Seena said.
“Closer, but not the same,” Hiral said. “The Infested—and the Unnamed—had PIM-like systems that were organic. They flowed naturally, but they lacked the same efficiency of the Fallens’ system. When I looked at Vorinal, I could see both the best and worst parts of what they did.”
“After fighting Laapdoug,” Seena said with a grimace. “I can’t think of anything I would call the worst part.”
“Growth,” Hiral said. “The Fallen couldn’t grow easily. Their systems were static, or nearly static. They started at that power level, but they’d probably never have gotten stronger on their own. I think they must’ve known that, which is why they built something like the Heart of the City.”
“The Infested we fought didn’t get any stronger,” Seena said, head tilted back. She had to be thinking about Picoli and Fitch.
“No,” Hiral admitted. “Because they didn’t try to. Either it never occurred to them, or it was something the Fallen—What did Gran… er, Laseen… call it? Ah, got it!—something they never programmed into the little squids. Maybe to make sure they never became a threat?”
“Could be a balance thing, too,” Seena said.
“Could be,” Hiral agreed. “Anyway, I like to think I took the best of both worlds and combined them. Our PIMs were already artificial and efficient. By introducing the Edicts—or the runes for others—and connecting them to our souls, it adds a touch of the organic. The ability to grow and continue to evolve.”
“We’re already S-Rank,” Seena said. “You’re what Dr. Benza called SSS+Rank, with three advanced classes.”
“Like Laseen said,” Hiral said with a wink. “S-Rank was the theoretical ceiling.”
“You think there are Ranks above S-Rank?” Seena said, eyes widening.
Hiral lifted his hand up and clenched his fist, some of this power leaking out and causing Ascender’s Tower to creak again, before he reeled his energy back in. “I’m hoping we’ll find out.
“After we get something to eat, and maybe a nap,” Hiral said, shoulders sagging. “Evolving didn’t suck up all my solar energy like before, but I’m still tired. That grind was… intense.”
“Perhaps I can help with that,” Jzak said, approaching the pair and giving a small nod of apology for both eavesdropping and interrupting. “I may not have Nivian’s stew recipe, but I’ve got a few dishes prepared from before we put the Bastion in your Shared Storage. Now seems like a good time to pull out a few of the special ones I’d kept for just this occasion.”
“Oh, I could so go for that,” Seena said. “Do you have enough for… you know… everybody?”
“Several times over,” Jzak said. “I’ve learned a lot of things from Nivian—impressive, since I am the one with the cooking-related advanced class—and one of them is to always have enough food handy to feed a city. The current occupants of this tower will find more than enough to fill their bellies.”
“Perfect,” Seena said. “I think we have some tables and chairs in Shared Storage. Why don’t we set those up to make it a bit more comfortable?”
“Let’s do that,” Hiral said. “Outside the tower. It’s mostly dry out there, thanks to the stone over our heads, and I want to set up a circle to make it easier to hand out runes.”
“Like what you did in the dungeon?”
“Yeah. Don’t want to mess with how the tower is set up, so outside is safer.”
“Taking that note about being careful seriously?”
“Very seriously,” Hiral said. “And… also considering how I could use this Touch of Genesis to deal with the squids’ rain. There are already several theories about how magical it is versus how real it is, since, like Drahn noticed before, we’re not all swimming all the time. Once I have a chance to talk with Gauto and the others about it, we’ll come up with a plan.”
“Speaking of plans,” Seena said while Jzak excused himself to start leading the others outside the tower. “We haven’t heard anything from the PIMP. When we were back in the Lost Refuge of the Lost, didn’t it say it had one?”
“I don’t know,” Hiral said. “I was starting to wonder the same thing. Could be it’s waiting until we’re all S-Rank, or some other criteria we don’t know. Hells, it might’ve just given up on us.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“We both know that last one isn’t likely,” Seena said, stepping in beside Hiral and wrapping an arm around his waist. “Means we just have to wait till it shows itself again. I’m sure it’ll be soon. For now, though, I can already smell Jzak getting food out. And it smells good.”
As if in agreement with her words, Seena’s stomach growled like a longing for lost love.
“Come on then,” Hiral said, putting his own arm over her shoulders, and led her outside where the others had already started getting set up. A few shared words on who was doing what, then Hiral left them to that while he got to work on crafting his runic circle to help the process of embedding runes in the rest of his raid group.
After having done it in the dungeon, the second time was even easier. It barely took him a moment to get it all crafted, though he spent a few minutes making sure everything was exactly as it needed be. No need to risk rushing things.
A few hours after that—exactly three hours after they’d all gone into their respective dungeons—Nivian’s and Ilrolik’s parties exited the tower.
“Was beginning to wonder if you’d run off and taken all the Bonders with you,” Ilrolik said, then looked at the spread of tables, smiling faces, and piled food. “This is a much better answer.”
“Do you want to eat first or evolve first?” Hiral said.
“Did you guys hit S-Rank?” Devison asked. “I… don’t feel any difference. Hells, I feel less energy coming from you all.”
“We hit S-Rank,” Seena said. “As for why you don’t feel much, we’ve been practicing for the last few hours to keep our energy inside our bodies.”
“Why?” Nivian asked.
“So we don’t accidently bring down the tower and the entire Hanging Garden,” Yanily said, a chicken leg in each hand.
“That good?” Loan said, looking at Hiral. “Come on. How about a peek?”
Hiral looked at the rest of the party, and they all gave him a nod to go ahead.
“Sure,” he said, walking about fifty feet away from the tables of food. “First, just to be safe…” he trailed off, releasing a swarm of solar energy clones. Spreading out so they surrounded just Hiral and the two parties that’d just come out of Ascender’s Tower, they immediately exploded. Runes of Sealing, Compression, Energy, and a few others anchored the temporary runic equations that burned like embers on the air before fading.
“Temporary sealing domain,” Hiral said. “Yan wasn’t kidding.”
“If it’s so dangerous,” Wule started, and stepped behind his brother. “Why do we need to be inside the barrier?”
“To really feel what it’s like,” Loan said, literally rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Anything else we should know?” he said louder, to make sure Hiral heard.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Hiral said.
That got him a few strange looks, until he released the limiters he and the others had been practicing. To say his power exploded outward would be an understatement, the runic equations lighting up as they fought to contain the raging energy. At his feet, the ground cracked, shattered, and then dissolved, while the two, distant A-Rank raids groups were pressed so hard to the earth, they left indentations.
The temperature of the air spiked, sizzles and flashes of spontaneous combustion appearing like lazy fireflies. A breeze that shouldn’t exist blew within the space, building in intensity with every passing, racing heartbeat, carrying with it a melody. A Primal Chord.
“That should be enough,” Hiral said, closing the door on his outpouring of power once again. He’d only let is out for three seconds, if that, and the two parties were left gasping on the ground, sweat pouring down more than one face.
“Puh! Puh!” Wule spit out dirt and grass that’d gotten in his mouth at the same time he pushed himself up to hands and knees.
“That’s it!” Seeyela said. “That’s the expression I wanted to see on his face. Oh, so worth it.”
“You’re all like that?” Nivian asked, the first one back on his feet. He’d only been driven to a knee—instead of face-deep in the dirt—but he had to step out of a foot-deep indentation.
“A little different,” Seena said.
“If Seena did what Hiral just did,” Yanily said. “You’d probably all be charcoal right now.”
“It manifests a bit differently for everybody,” Seeyela explained. “Like us, you’ll really need to practice keeping your energy inside. Especially if you’re all going to come out of the dungeons together after evolving. The tower barely handled us.”
“It’s a lot like Cycling,” Hiral said. “We’ll teach you before you go in. But, back to my original question: Food or evolution?”
From the looks on the faces of everybody in those two parties, it wasn’t really a question.
“Okay, then,” Hiral continued with a smile. “Like I said before, I have a way to give you another improved evolution. I’ll need you to step into my circle over here, and I’ll connect your PIMs to your souls.”
“No exploding or anything,” Seeyela said. “It’s safe. And very much in your best interest.”
“Nivian,” Hiral said, pointing at the tank. “You’re first.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Wule said. “I was worried he’d pick me.”
“You’re second.”
“Hells.”
With the laughs coming from the groups, Hiral got started on empowering his allies. His friends.
Nivian, he got the Edict of Rejection, for his role as tank. His brother, Wule, got the Edict of Restoration. That meant Yully only got the rune version, but it was such a good fit for her, it was better than any of the other Edict options. Loan was another who got an Edict, with the Edict of Breaking being a good fit for his contribution to his party.
Another unexpected recipient of an Edict was Dole, the newest addition to the raid group. With his chains and how he used them, the Edict of Sealing practically called out to Hiral to be connected with the man. Finitol and her companion Rive almost got the Edict of Separation, but the Rune of Connection had a stronger call, so Hiral trusted his instincts.
Hiral half-wished he had an Edicthe could give Bash, but the Rune of Impact was by far the best match for the little Troblin, and he had such a huge smile on his face after. He knew he was going to be smashing better than ever. As for the last member of Nivian’s group, Igwanda got the Rune of Piercing. It wasn’t quite arrow-typed energy, but it was close enough she didn’t complain. Much.
When it came to the other party, Hiral had considered the Rune of Rejection for Ilrolik, but again, his instincts in the moment overruled his original thinking. The Edict of Attraction seemed to shoulder its way to the front. Like with Laseen—Restoration versus Absorption—Ilrolik could’ve used what Rejection offered, helping with her defenses. On the other hand, keeping—attracting—attention was something she still struggled with more, so Hiral went with the Edict.
Drahn got the Rune of Breaking, since his arrows—and especially his Pollen Poison—had a variety of ways to damage an opponent. The general benefit of the rune far outweighed what the more specialized options could offer. When Hiral got to Devison, Yully literally threatened them both that bad things would happen if the Grower got anything to do with Separation. Yully really wanted him to have Connection or maybe Attraction to keep his damn feet attached.
In the end, Hiral went with the same rune Drahn had gotten, with Breaking offering the most benefits to the versatile damage dealer. That just left one last person—his mother.
With Sera’s role as a buffer and debuffer, there were a lot of Edicts and runes that could both benefit her. He almost went with the same choice he’d given Left—Dreaming—but changed at the last minute. Instead, he’d help her double-down on what her job was, and he gave her the Edict of Increase, with the idea it would increase all the effects of her abilities.
She thanked him with a small nod and—thankfully—no words. Sera, along with the others, were ready for the evolution. Now wasn’t the time for talking, it was the time to reach new heights, and they all marched back into the tower.
“Now I’m even more tired,” Hiral laughed. “It’s surprisingly easy to do all that, but I’m feeling it now.”
“As soon as they’re back out,” Seena said. “And they show off a bit, I’m sure, we’ll finish up eating, then rest.”
“One last rest,” Hiral said. “Before one last push. We’ve—somehow—gotten to S-Rank. We’re almost as ready as we can be. It’s just too bad none of you got advanced class options.”
“We all feel close,” Seena said. “We’ll get them. Even if we don’t, we’ll find a way to handle whatever comes at us. You already did a lot for us with the improved evolutions. Again. It’s hard to explain, but I can feel the difference of what you did. Like, there is this old limit within me, and I’m standing above it. The Raze aren’t ready for what’s coming for them.”
“I just hope we are,” Hiral said.
“We will be,” Seena said, squeezing his hand. “We will be.”